Make a list of the money you have flowing out into different expenses. If you have cable, or streaming networks you pay for, such as Netflix or Hulu, put those on your list next to how much money it costs you each month. If you have smartphones in your family write those down as well. List magazine subscriptions, gym passes, art classes, or anything that comes to you as a regular expense. Then you need to look at your list and decide how to cut back. Maybe you can just eliminate a few things, or maybe you need to cut it all out for a little while until your bank account becomes more stable. There is no point in paying for a huge cable bill, or random magazine subscriptions that you never read, while you’re struggling to make ends meet. The more you cut the better off you will be.
Get into Survival Mode
Don’t spend money on things you don’t need. You have to get into a survival mode and focus only on the essentials. Avoid eating out, shopping sprees, going out to movies or events, or anything that is unnecessary. If you can control your spending habits and you can cut back on these things, you will be amazed how much money you save. It doesn’t mean you can’t have fun though. Start making a fun meal plan with ingredients you already have at home, look online for free date ideas that can still get you out of the house, and find ways to mix and match pieces in your closet to wear them in ways you never have before. Overall, just make sure you are only spending money on the things you have to have to survive.
Make More Money
To help you feel more fluid in your budget, you’ll need to find ways to make more money so that you can attack your financial situation from both ends. There are a lot of ways to make money from home on the side. You can pick up extra shifts at work, or get resourceful and see if any of these 50 Ways to Make Money on the Side are good options for you. If you don’t have a job that pays well enough and you are having hard time getting ahead, consider finding a new job, improving your skills or even getting educated in a new trade or field to improve your quality of life.
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Prioritize Your Bills
If you have a lot of bills to pay, make sure you decide which ones have to be paid off first. Hopefully you cut back on everything from the list you made, but now it is time to sort through what important bills are MOST important. Take care of things like your house payments and energy bills first and then keep moving down through the things that are most important for you to keep surviving and having your basic needs met.
Keep a Positive Mindset
Overall, remember to stay positive. Of course this is easier said than done, but it is so important when trying to get out of a financial bind and start to plan effectively. Negative thoughts are destructive and won’t help you moving forward. Try to think each day about good things that happen to you, opportunities that come your way, connections you have with other people that could help, and really anything that keeps you positive and focused on your ultimate financial goals. If you can’t master a positive mindset, you other strategies could fall apart.
